Well, its that time again, I’ve got a couple books to review here so hang on to your hats!

My First Hands-On Bible – New Living Translation

My First Hands-On Bible is the preschooler version of the popular Hands-On Bible, which has sold over a half million copies. Jesus taught with hands-on lessons and illustrations; My First Hands-On Bible uses the same experience-based learning to communicate God’s Word in an active, understandable way. My First Hands-On Bible is a fun and simple yet meaningful way to engage preschool, pre-K, and K children (ages 3-6) with the Bible while helping them build a solid faith foundation. Each lesson focuses on a specific Bible point through a variety of activities in order to reinforce and help young children remember the stories and lessons. Using common household items, you can help your children have a “hands-on” learning experience while engaging them in 85 key stories from the Bible. My First Hands-On Bible doesn’t just retell the Bible stories; it also includes actual Scripture from the easy-to-understand and easy-to-read Holy Bible, New Living Translation. In addition to the stories and activities, there are fun illustrations, prayers, and a special Jesus Connection feature.

I am the mother of a 5 year old and a 3 year old and I loved this Bible. First off I really loved it just for me. A lot of times children’s bible’s can miss stuff, or skim over stuff or just shorten things down because its geared towards kids. I didn’t feel like that at all when I was looking this over. But by far the best part is the illustrations. So beautiful and fun. When my son opened it up for the first time he said, “Wow mommy, i like these pictures”. It was so easy to talk to him and have a conversation with him just about the pictures. That was before we even started reading it. The stories are great lengths and read in such a way that it kept my son’s attention while also spurring questions and conversation between. I love this Bible and I would definitely recommend it to any parent looking for a first Bible for their children! An added bonus for you homeschooling moms with younger children who aren’t quite ready for full on curriculum is the activities included within the stories. Its something for your younger kids to do that will make them feel like they are a big kid. I will be using it for my son who is doing pre-k and kindergarten learning at home this year.

**this book was provided by the Tyndale Blogging Program for my review. This review is my own and I was not provided any compensation for a positive review

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Don’t Check Your Brains at the Door, by Josh McDowell and Bob Hostetler Don’t Check Your Brains at the Door gives teens answers that make sense, even for the toughest of questions. Internationally known defender of the faith Josh McDowell and co-author Bob Hostetler offer clarity laced with humor to expose common myths about God, the Bible, religion, and life to show how Christianity stands up to the test of fact and reason. Teens will be better equipped to stick with their faith as they begin to understand why they believe and why it’s important to make a lifetime commitment to Christ and the church.

I wasn’t actually sure what to expect when I first got this book. But after opening it up and powering through about the whole thing in one night I loved it. Josh McDowell is amazing and so I knew anything by him would be great. I believe that this is such a relevant book for this day in age and I really think that groups from Jr. High and even College Age could use this book. The stories are relevant and easily comparable to life. The follow-up questions are great. I’m always worried with things like this because I fear that the topics would become too relevant if you know what I mean. The questions and topics become too watered down. The future of Christianity today is in the hands of our kids and feeding them wishy-washy garbage isn’t going to do us any good. I would pick up this book if you’re a youth leader or any kid, or if you have teens in your house, or even before your kids get to that age. I have a five and three year old and I loved this book! Its a tough task to raise our children and anything that helps with that is good in my book!